Kęstutis Jucevičius was selected new head of the FCIS on Friday, the minister of interior affarias' adviser Ramunė Hazir told BNS.
Jucevičius is currently head of the Operational Activity Unit of the Special Task Board of the FCIS.
"The competition causes political confusion and, potentially, legal mess. Should a court find the sacking of (FCIS director) Vitalijus Gailius invalid, the history of the two directors would repeat itself. Secondly, if the government has decided to restructure the FCIS, there is no need to have a new leader now, as we do not know what form it will take in a few months," the minister told BNS.
"The competition can be terminated in any phase before it is completed, a minister's order is fully enough," said Šimašius, deputy chairman of the ruling Liberal Movement.
"I cannot understand the reasons behind the urgent competition to the leading position and the reasons why it can't be stopped," the justice minister added.
On Wednesday, after the cabinet's meeting, Interior Minister Raimundas Palaitis told journalists that the decision would be "rational" if "structural reforms are carried out fast." Nevertheless, leadership of the Liberal and Center Union, which delegated Palaitis to the post, said on Thursday that the competition could only be stopped by court order.
The court decided on Friday to allow the competition, and the Interior Ministry said the competition was underway.
Šimašius doubts the Liberal and Center Union's assertion that the competition could only be stopped by court.
"I do not have a single doubt that there is a possibility to halt the competition. A number of ministers have exercised the opportunity," he added, recalling that he had personally suspended a competition for the leading position of the Prisons Department.
Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius has called the competition for selecting a new chief of the Financial Crime Investigation Service a pathetic and wrong decision.
"This decision is pathetic and morally incorrect. The minister of interior affairs has failed to implement the decision in favor of which he himself voted in the government. It could have been avoided if Palaitis had resigned, as it was suggested," the prime minister's reaction was communicated to BNS on Friday by his adviser Virgis Valentinavičius.
"Such a move is only increasing the gap between the coalition partners," leader of the Liberals' Movement, Minister of Transport Eligijus Masiulis told BNS.
Only one candidate applied for director of the Financial Crimes Investigation Service.
The ruling conservatives recently called, once again, for restructuring the Financial Crimes Investigation Service in a way that the entire Cabinet of ministers could decide on appointment and dismissal of the agency's director.
A draft amendment discussed at the government's meeting earlier this week stipulates that the Financial Crimes Investigation Service was “an agency under the Ministry of Finance that reports to the government and the minister of finance.” According to the draft, the agency's director should be appointed by the government with nomination from the finance minister, and the director and his deputies are appointed for five-year terms, for no more than two consecutive offices.
A group appointed by the prime minister in 2010 decided it was a good idea to transfer FCIS subordination from the Interior Ministry to the Finance Ministry and, in the long run, merge it with the Customs Criminal service or distribute its functions among the Special Investigation Service, the State Tax Inspectorate, the Police Department and the Customs Criminal Service.
However, back then the government did not discuss the group's conclusions, as ministers of finance and interior affairs did not propose relevant draft resolutions.
Finance Minister Ingrida Šimonytė has not commented on the proposed restructuring of the Financial Crimes Investigation Service.
